1. Field of Art
The disclosure generally relates to improving user experience when viewing video content items across a variety of sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, have become prevalent in recent years. Given the advances in mobile computing power and far-reaching wireless Internet access, more and more users utilize their mobile devices for a variety of tasks including viewing media content on their mobile devices, researching media content for consumption, and sharing information about media content with other users out of convenience. The media content shared and viewed amongst the users may be available on a variety of source including internet streaming websites or services, streaming on standalone boxes, home media servers, cable boxes, live television digital recording devices (DVR), and the like. However, some media content items may not be available on a particular platform due to copyright, distribution choices, and delivery method, amongst other reasons. Thus, a user receiving information about a particular media content item from another user must subsequently determine where to access the media content and whether he/she has access to the media content. These requirements of the user prevent the rapid sharing and viewing of media content across sources amongst users.
In a specific example, a user watching American Idol via a given television provider that wishes to suggest the video content to a group of friends on a social network may indicate to the group of friends that they should browse to American Idol, to FOX, or a particular channel on their television. In the first case, a user wishing to view the video content corresponding to the recommendation must determine which channel American Idol is on, i.e., FOX, or another network carrying the programming in another region. Similarly, in the second case, a user must determine which channel corresponds to FOX. In the latter case, the channel for FOX may differ among the group of friends according to television provider or geographical location. In any instance, it's likely that several users in the group of friends may have some difficulty in conveniently finding and then viewing the suggested content. Extending this example to sharing content worldwide causes further issues through scheduling issues across time zones and countries, differing channels providing the content (e.g., FOX in the U.S. vs SKY in the U.K.), and language barriers.